Flannigan
09-11-2011, 07:56 PM
Today we are working on a 2004 BMW 325i Sedan. The car was actually in failry good shape, and just needed some work to get it looking as good as possible. We opted for a one step correction, since this is a daily driver, and the color hides minor defects very well. So well that i actually wasn't able to catch any of them well enough on camera to post them here. They were there, just hard to catch on film. Here is the process and products that were used.
Engine Bay
Cleaned with Power Clean 3:1 and various brushes
Dried with Metro Vac
Dressed with Autoglym Vinyl and Rubber Dressing
Wheels, Tires, and Wheel Wells
Wheels removed from vehicle and cleaned with Sonax Full Effect Wheel Cleaner
Tires cleaned with Optimum Power Clean 3:1
Wheels wells cleaned with Optimum Power Clean 3:1
Wheels sealed with Duraglos Beta Nano Polish
Tires dressed with DP Tire Gel 1:1
Wheel wells dressed with Adams Undercarriage spray
Wash and Decon Stage
Car foamed with Duragloss 901 with OPC mixed in to strip LSP and loose debris
Car washed via 2BM with Ultima Shampoo
Iron X applied to entire vehicle, agitated, then rinsed clean
Vehicle clayed with Ricardo Yellow clay with Dodo Juice BTBS as lube
Correction
Menzerna Power Finish on Yellow Buff and Shine pad via PCXP
Protection
Duragloss Beta Nano Polish applied with black Buff and Shine pad via PCXP
Interior
Door cards, dash and other plastic trim cleaned with DP Interior Cleaner
Leather Cleaned with Optimum Power Clean 5:1
Carpet vacuumed and spot cleaned with Folex
Plastic and vinyl dressed with DP Interior Dressing
Leather dressed with Prima Nourish
Wood grain trim polished and protected with Swissvax Wood Wax
Vents and various buttons/trim dressed with Adams In and Out Spray
Odds and Ends
Exterior glass polished with DG Nu Glass on Orange Buff and Shine pad via PCXP
Glass cleaned with Meguiars Glass Cleaner
Exhaust tips polished and protected with Collinite Metal wax and 0000 steel wool
On to the pics!
Engine bay before
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/enginebefore.jpg
Engine bay after
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/engineafter.jpg
Wheels before. Nothing crazy, but there was some baked on stuff that was a bear to get off
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/wheelbefore.jpg
Wheels after
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/wheelafter.jpg
Exhaust after (sorry, forgot to get a before pic.)
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/exhaust.jpg
Like I said before, there was just no way that I could really capture the defects with my camera. So here are some random reflection shots.
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/reflection001.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/reflection003.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/reflection002.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/reflection004.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/reflection005.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/reflection006.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/reflection007.jpg
Here is a look at the grille. Each side was removed, and disassembled to facilitate a thorough polishing to remove most defects and all water spots.
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/grilleafter.jpg
Here is a picture of the interior completed. It wasn't in terrible shape to begin with so before pictures were really needed. Also please keep in mind that the rubber floor mats are clean, just severely faded from years of use.
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/interior001.jpg
And here are some shots of the car all finished.
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/after003.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/after002.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/after001.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/after005.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/after004.jpg
That about wraps it up. I really enjoyed working on this vehicle, and look forward to your comments. Thanks!
Disclaimer: A few pictures (engine bay after, wheel after, and one after) were edited due to being severely over exposed, due to me being a moron. Nothing was edited to make the car look better or hide anything.
Engine Bay
Cleaned with Power Clean 3:1 and various brushes
Dried with Metro Vac
Dressed with Autoglym Vinyl and Rubber Dressing
Wheels, Tires, and Wheel Wells
Wheels removed from vehicle and cleaned with Sonax Full Effect Wheel Cleaner
Tires cleaned with Optimum Power Clean 3:1
Wheels wells cleaned with Optimum Power Clean 3:1
Wheels sealed with Duraglos Beta Nano Polish
Tires dressed with DP Tire Gel 1:1
Wheel wells dressed with Adams Undercarriage spray
Wash and Decon Stage
Car foamed with Duragloss 901 with OPC mixed in to strip LSP and loose debris
Car washed via 2BM with Ultima Shampoo
Iron X applied to entire vehicle, agitated, then rinsed clean
Vehicle clayed with Ricardo Yellow clay with Dodo Juice BTBS as lube
Correction
Menzerna Power Finish on Yellow Buff and Shine pad via PCXP
Protection
Duragloss Beta Nano Polish applied with black Buff and Shine pad via PCXP
Interior
Door cards, dash and other plastic trim cleaned with DP Interior Cleaner
Leather Cleaned with Optimum Power Clean 5:1
Carpet vacuumed and spot cleaned with Folex
Plastic and vinyl dressed with DP Interior Dressing
Leather dressed with Prima Nourish
Wood grain trim polished and protected with Swissvax Wood Wax
Vents and various buttons/trim dressed with Adams In and Out Spray
Odds and Ends
Exterior glass polished with DG Nu Glass on Orange Buff and Shine pad via PCXP
Glass cleaned with Meguiars Glass Cleaner
Exhaust tips polished and protected with Collinite Metal wax and 0000 steel wool
On to the pics!
Engine bay before
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/enginebefore.jpg
Engine bay after
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/engineafter.jpg
Wheels before. Nothing crazy, but there was some baked on stuff that was a bear to get off
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/wheelbefore.jpg
Wheels after
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/wheelafter.jpg
Exhaust after (sorry, forgot to get a before pic.)
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/exhaust.jpg
Like I said before, there was just no way that I could really capture the defects with my camera. So here are some random reflection shots.
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/reflection001.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/reflection003.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/reflection002.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/reflection004.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/reflection005.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/reflection006.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/reflection007.jpg
Here is a look at the grille. Each side was removed, and disassembled to facilitate a thorough polishing to remove most defects and all water spots.
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/grilleafter.jpg
Here is a picture of the interior completed. It wasn't in terrible shape to begin with so before pictures were really needed. Also please keep in mind that the rubber floor mats are clean, just severely faded from years of use.
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/interior001.jpg
And here are some shots of the car all finished.
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/after003.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/after002.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/after001.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/after005.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2004%20Silver%20BMW%20325/after004.jpg
That about wraps it up. I really enjoyed working on this vehicle, and look forward to your comments. Thanks!
Disclaimer: A few pictures (engine bay after, wheel after, and one after) were edited due to being severely over exposed, due to me being a moron. Nothing was edited to make the car look better or hide anything.